


Looking for answers

by RebeccaAnabelBurrows



Category: DCU
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Interdimensional Travel, Kid Fic, M/M, Past Child Abuse, not by either versions of Dick and Jason
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:14:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25859560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebeccaAnabelBurrows/pseuds/RebeccaAnabelBurrows
Summary: Oh, and had Dick mentioned Jason looked at least twenty years older than a week ago ? His temples were even greying.--A bloodied Jason in his early forties entrusts a kid to Dick's care before disappearing. Who is she ? Who is this Jason ? What happened ? Dick is determined to find out.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd
Comments: 58
Kudos: 222





	1. Baby Wing

Dick had feared this moment for the last forty minutes. The child in the chair stirred. 

Less than a hour ago, Jason had appeared - literally appeared, that wasn’t a figure of speech - in the Cave. He had been in full vigilante gear, except for his lack of helmet. 

It had been a few nights since Dick had last seen him, but his attire had clearly been updated. Some metal pieces and kevlar(?)-covered parts hadn’t been there. The armored parts had been reinforced. He seemed to be wearing more knives than guns too. 

Oh, and had Dick mentioned he looked at least twenty years older than a week ago ? His temples were even greying. 

And was it blood on his face ? In spite of all the rules, in spite of all prudence, Dick took a step forward. 

“What -”

Jason shook his head and pointed a finger toward the blanket pressed against his chest. A headful of dark curls and chubby limbs stuck out of said blanket. Dick had been so focused on Jason he hadn’t noticed the sleeping kid in his arms.

Jaxon put the child down in Bruce’s chair, actually empty since Bruce was working for the League.

Dick looked at Jason as he eased the child into the chair carefully. It wasn’t the first time he was doing so, obviously. The kid didn’t stir. Jason looked relieved and took Dick’s arm, directing them a bit further, but not into another room.

Right in a blind spot. Dick almost said something about it.

"Thank God it's you. The situation is already difficult enough without me meeting Bruce here." Jason muttered to himself.

Dick arched an eyebrow and waited for more but Jason kept silent after that. 

He ignored Dick's interrogations, rummaged into his utility belt and took the first Robin’s hand to close it around a sharp-edged metallic object. 

“She has to have it at all times.” Jason mouthed more than talked - clearly he didn’t want anyone else who would check the videofeed to know what this was about.

Dick opened his fingers slowly. A batarang, an old model from when Jason had been Robin himself. The surface was polished, like someone had ran their fingers on it way too often. 

“An old batarang ?” Dick said, not hiding his surprise but keeping his voice very low.

What good would the small weapon do ? Was it supposed to be for good luck or something ? Jason had never seemed to be the type to rely on mere luck. Surely he didn’t intent for the kid to use it ? She didn’t look older than six, top. 

“A modified one. It’s a tracking device now.” Jason said in Dick’s ear. 

He was looking at the small object in such a way, Dick had to wonder how much it meant for him. The intensity in Jason’s gaze was a bit much for an old memento, but Jason’s feelings had always been on the too intense side. 

However, Dick couldn’t do as he had asked.

“You can’t let her wear this -” 

Jason sighed and put a hand on Dick’s shoulder, looking straight at him through his domino. 

“Only two people had the means to trace it and I am one of them. The other one - well, I hope you’ll get to meet the second half of the family.” 

The kid’s family ? There was a glint in Jason’s eyes that reminded him how mischievous he could get. Before his death, anyway. 

But it only lasted for a second, before Jason turned back to the kid in the chair.

“You better take care of her. I am trusting you to keep her safe at all costs.” he said, going back to the sleeping kid. 

He knelt, took a few seconds to look at her and smile and kissed the top of the child’s head.

“I’ll bring your Dad and sister back, sweetheart.” he said, stroking her hair. 

Dick narrowed his eyes at him. Her Dad ? 

“Wait, you’re not her Dad ?”

Who was she, then ? 

“Have fun running the DNA tests.” Jason smirked and it looked like it would be his parting words. 

There were many questions Dick had wanted to ask, many things he had wanted to say, but the words he came up with were instinctive. 

“Don’t die again.” Dick said, seizing his wrist on a whim. 

He hadn’t known he had been about to say so but he couldn’t really bring himself to regret it once it had been said. Jason’s eyes softened as he loosened Dick’s hand around his wrist. There was a glint of sadness here but Jason blinked it away before Dick could ask about it. 

“I’ll do my best. Look after Baby Wing for me, okay ?” 

Jason brushed his knuckles softly against Dick’s cheek before touching a kind of bracelet he was wearing, disappearing before Dick even had the time to react, either to the kid’s nickname or Jason’s light touch.

Jason didn't touch people anymore and Dick had missed it.

He touched his cheek and stayed frozen in the Cave, a sleeping girl who was probably from another dimension in Bruce’s seat and his fist closed a bit too tightly for comfort around a battered batarang. 

Upon a closer look, he could see that a YES had been engraved into the metal on the back. He wondered briefly at the meaning of it before starting to freak out.

There was a kid in the Cave. One that was too young to be a Robin and had probably no business being there. At first, he had thought she was this older -maybe from another dimension - Jason’s daughter but he wasn’t so sure now. 

Maybe she was totally unrelated to him, but he had had such care for her, he had had to know her in some capacity. That, and her nickname. Surely it meant something. 

Anyway, there was still a kid in the Cave. One that was going to wake up at some point. Maybe it was the right time to call for someone. 

Well, that older Jason and the girl’s unexpected presence must have triggered some alarms, bats were probably on their way. Bruce was probably already visioning the video feed. 

Dick was going to be interrogated to hell. Oh joy. It was the last time he asked Bruce if he could use his files for a case. 

“Nightwing, report.” he heard Bruce bark into his ear. 

He had almost forgotten he had turned his comms on after Jason's departure and did his best to suppress a summersault. 

“Do you have any files on interdimensional travel ? They might be handy. Look, I’d love to make a complete report but we - I - have quite a situation on my hands and zero training about how to take care of five years old - is she five ? - so you’ll have to wait. For how long Alfred is going to be out of town again ?" Dick asked, pocketing Jason's batarang before focusing his attention on the girl once again.


	2. Brucia

Baby Wing had only stirred a bit but hadn’t woken up, which had been a relief for Dick. He had a better look at her, trying to figure out if she looked like Jason or not. It was hard to tell. 

She had dark hair who curled a bit at its ends. That could have been from Jason. Was Jason her biological father ? And the man he mentioned, the kid’s Dad, the man who was raising her ? 

Well, it would have to wait. The kid had started whining in her sleep and Dick reluctantly woke her after a few minutes, stroking her hair. 

“Papa ?” the kid had mumbled, rubbing her eyes but not opening them. 

“Ah, no. Sorry, kid.” Dick had said, shaking his head. 

“Daddy.” Baby Wing had murmured happily, her small hand clenching on Dick’s shirt as he scooped her up awkwardly in his arms. She didn’t seem to mind, he didn’t have the chance to contradict her again before she was falling back asleep.

Dick had the feeling she hadn’t been sleeping for long when that older Jason had put her in this chair. Jason himself hadn’t looked like he had benefited from much rest. 

Bruce had said he would be there soon but he then had been delayed. Dick cut off his comms and bit his lip. 

He wasn’t going to do it. He didn’t know who the girl was yet. That older Jason hadn’t asked him to contact anyone. But maybe he had thought Dick didn’t need any encouragement to do it.

Jason had said he had been glad to see him, so Dick and him weren’t at odds in some other universe. The idea felt tempting. However, something obviously bad had happened in this Jason’s universe, something that had made him entrust a kid he was close to to Dick. But what ? And why ? 

Dick hadn’t realized he had gotten his phone out of his pocket and dialed Jason’s number as he was thinking. Jason’s voice made him jump. The kid in his arm turned over. 

“I am quite busy right now, you know how we are, us mass murderers, always working, so if you would like to make it quick, Boy Wonder…” the familiar voice was saying. 

Dick hadn’t thought about what he was going to say. He was even surprised that Jason had taken the call. Their current relationship didn’t guarantee it. 

The comment on mass murderers was a reminder of it. The things they hurled at each other these days… Well, Dick had compared Red Hood to a serial killer, not a mass murderer, but maybe it didn’t seem the right time to talk semantics.

Had it been before or after Jason had called him and Bruce self-righteous delusional idiots ? It was after he slitted a man’s throat just in front of Dick, that was for sure. 

They hadn’t been working together, they had crossed paths while working different cases. Jason murdering Dick’s witness had put a bit of a damper on their relationship, to say the least. 

It was a shame, really, they had been getting along better since Jason had stopped trying to kill other family members. Even worked a case or two together. 

“Dick ?” Jason asked, and he didn’t sound exactly worried but at least mildly concerned. 

The use of his name confirmed what Dick had thought - Jason wasn’t working. Well, he hadn’t the Red Hood costume on, anyway. For all Dick knew, he was already planning the assassination of another of Dick’s witnesses in the Maddison case, who were a whole array of unsavory characters. 

“I - I need you at the Cave.” Dick said truthfully, trying to hold back his resentment and hurt feelings.

It was his own fault. He had assumed things about Jason, the other man had never promised him anything, had never told him he was working on being a better man. 

Dick was glad Jason hadn’t hung up yet. Talking to him always made him lost in his thoughts, somehow. 

“Jay ?” he asked, but he could still hear him breathing. 

“The thing is, I have no desire to go back into the Bat’s lair.” Jason answered back. “What made you think I will ?” 

Dick wasn’t even sure Jason had put a foot in the Cave since he had come back. He probably dreaded it, and Bruce hadn’t been that inviting anyway. 

He had been to the Manor, though. Mainly to see Alfred, but on several occasions, him and Dick had talked. It had been nice. 

“You won’t need your suit but it’s about a kid.” Dick said, and maybe Jason perceived how at loss the first Robin was. 

“See you in fifteen. It better not be a trap, Dickie.” Jason said finally before hanging up. 

Dick sighed. His conversations with Jason had a bittersweet taste to them. As he put back his phone in his pocket, the kid in his arms moved.

“Hey, sweetie. Can you open your pretty eyes for me ?” Dick asked. 

Dick was a bit startled when he met a striking blue gaze quite similar to his. The kid looked puzzled too. 

“You’re not my Daddy.” she said, trying to back away from him. 

Without Dick’s reflexes, she would have fallen off the chair. 

“It’s okay, kiddo. Your Daddy… is a bit busy right now, but he said I could keep an eye on you and we could both wait for him together.” 

Dick hated being such a good liar sometimes, especially when dealing with kids.

“Okay.” she said. 

She kept looking at Dick with her unnerving gaze but didn’t say anything. She had barely thrown a look around, and if Dick had to make a guess, it wasn’t the first time she had been there.

“I am Dick. What’s your name ?”

“Brucia.” the little girl said, just as Jason entered the Cave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All my updates are probably not going to be so quick, I am mostly posting this chapter so I stop changing this part. It was supposed to be a part where Dick interacted with the kid, but instead I chose to share some "young" JayDick background.


	3. Not my daughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW child physical abuse for this chapter

Jason had been climbing down the stairs when the kid on Dick’s lap had turned toward him. He had frozen mid-step. 

“I wasn’t aware you had a daughter when I was recovering from death.” 

Dick glared at him but Jason looked so genuinely pluzzed he didn’t hold it against him. 

“I am not her father.” Dick said firmly.

The eyes had been a bit unsettling but the kid looked a lot more like Jason, if you asked him. 

Jason snortled and rolled his eyes as the kid looked at him with curiosity but without climbing down from Dick’s lap. Jason wondered if she felt the danger. If it was something she could sense or if she took Dick’s own discomfort as a warning. 

Or maybe Dick’s lap was that comfortable annnnnd thankfully Jason didn’t let his thoughts run so free usually. That was clearly not a thing to think about here.  
So, back to the mystery girl that was so obviously Dick’s. 

“Is it what you told her Mom ? She’s like a perfect mini you. Well, I would have bet on red hair.” Jason remarked. 

Before Dick could snap at him, the little girl had opened her mouth. 

“I don’t have a Mom.” she had said, very matter-of-factly. 

Something that had already been told to her, obviously. She didn’t seem affected by it, already returning to her examination of Jason from afar - Jason had come closer but had stayed out of reach from both the girl and Dick. 

Well, Dick would have to get rid of the kid before getting to him and the kid didn’t look much like a warrior, so maybe the precaution wasn’t necessary.

“I am sorry, Baby Wing. Don’t listen to him.” Dick murmured to her, kissing her head. 

“Baby Wing ? You’re sure she’s not yours ?” Jason said, shaking his head. 

Dick looked at him for a few seconds silently. The kid made a move forward and Dick helped her to the floor before she fell. She took a step closer to Jason. She looked young and rather small, but maybe that was normal for her age.

She looked curious but also hesitant, prudent. Maybe she wasn’t a warrior, but she had been taught to be careful of her surroundings. 

“Believe it or not, I wasn’t the first who called her that. Have a look at the Cave recording from two hours prior.” Dick said, letting his seat for Jason. 

Jason hesitated for a brief second before sitting in Bruce’s seat. He wanted to know more about this. Because as much fun it was to look at Dick looking quite clueless about how five years old work, Jason didn’t want a child that young to stay here. 

He was a bit stunned by that older version of him. Seeing his counterpart holding the kid so naturally and rarely letting her out of his sight was strange. Not in a bad way. Well, maybe, because it stirred something into him and he felt what seemed to be longing. 

After the Pit, he had given up hope of ever having a family one day. He was too fucked up for that. But this guy, this guy looked like he could take care of a child. Even if Jason was pretty sure the child was actually Dick’s, and that didn’t help any to push away that feeling of longing. 

“What did you do in the part you’re off record ?” Jason asked. 

It was a significant part, he was certain of it. What had that different Jason tried to hide from - from whom exactly ? Bruce ? The replacement ? The demon spawn ? Bruce, probably. 

Well, if the guy wanted to hide things from Bruce, maybe bringing the kid in the Cave wasn’t a stellar idea to start with. Jason had prepared himself to see Bruce emerge here at all times, because the recording showed quite a security breach.

And Dick was going to receive hell for having allowed Jason to lead him away from the cameras.

“We talked about the kid. That Jason didn’t volunteer much, he looked preoccupied. I am still struggling to understand it all but I think Baby Wing here must be his biological daughter but had been raised by someone else, he talked about finding her Dad and sister but -” Dick said. 

Jason raised his palm to stop him. 

“She’s not my biological daughter.” he asserted. 

Dick just shrugged but stubbornly stood his ground. How surprising. 

“Well, not yours but that other Jason -”

“If he's anything like me, I guarantee you they don’t share any DNA.” Jason insisted. 

He had never slept with a girl and if he had any say in it, he never will. So, except if other dimension Jason was quite differently orientationally disposed, he was quite certain she wasn’t his biological daughter. 

With what Dick had told him and the kid commenting on the fact that she had no mother, an idea was starting to form in his head but that seemed quite extraordinary so he kept his mouth shut about it, because Dick was clearly not ready to hear that.”

“That’s going to be easy to check.” Dick was saying. “I have been running DNA tests. We’ll have answers in a few hours.” 

“Check all you want.” Jason shrugged. “My older, other dimensional self told _you_ that something in her DNA would puzzle you. The kid looks like you. What’s her name ?”

“Brucia.” Dick sighed, like he knew he was losing the argument. 

“Is this a joke ? Do you really think I would ever name my kid after Bruce ? That’s settled, she’s not mine.” Jason said quite loudly. 

Where was the kid by the way ? Jason had been too busy arguing with Dick to notice, and he would bet the other man hadn’t either. Jason threw a quick look around. Under a desk. She probably wanted to play hide and seek. 

“That man obviously came from another universe. You don’t know -”

The sound of sobbing was unmistakable. Dick literally ran to where the kid was hidden, so he had kept an eye on her too. 

He dropped to his knees in front of her. Jason watched, a few meters away. 

“Baby Wing ? Brucia ?” Dick called. “What’s wrong ? Are you hurt ?”

“N-no.” the kid sniffled under the desk, her back turned to him. 

With some coaxing, Dick got her out of there with a chocolate bar. Jason tried not to roll his eyes. Of course, Dick would carry some kind of sugary treats on him at all times. 

Jason looked at the girl in Dick's arms, shaking his head and -

“Dick.” he said in some kind of whisper, and he felt himself blanching.

Dick turned sharply in his direction, knowing Jason's intonations well enough to know something was wrong. 

“Her back.” was all Jason managed to say.

Her shirt had rode up a bit when Dick had taken her into his arms. 

“What ?” Dick asked, searching Jason’s eyes for an answer, wondering if the kid was having an allergic reaction to the chocolate bar.

He had been careful not to give her one with nuts just in case, but maybe… They probably have something for it in the Cave, however. Jason’s reaction seemed disproportionate, especially since the kid looked fine, her throat wasn’t swelling. 

He looked back at Jason to ask him what was happening. Jason had leaned his hands on a wall and was visibly having trouble breathing. 

“Jay !” 

His haunted look met Dick. “Her back”, he mouthed again, taking slow breaths, and Dick had forgotten he said that. He asked the kid to put down her candy bar for a bit and looked at her covered back. He hesitated but in front of Jason’s insistence, he asked the kid if he could lift her shirt and look at her back. 

The reaction he got was such that he didn’t need to have a look to know what was probably there.

The kid was stumbling away from him, fear making her eyes especially bright. 

“I don’t want you to hit me. I don’t want you to hit me. Papa said nobody has the right to hit me. Don’t hit me. Papa ! Papa !” 

“Hey, hey, hey !” Dick said, his palms raised in front of him. “Listen to me. You are fine, here, okay ? You’re safe. You’re safe, I promise. Nobody is going to hit you. Nobody is going to hurt you.”

He exchanged a look with Jason who still looked a bit like he was going to be sick but wasn’t leaning against the wall anymore. He didn’t know how bad the marks were, but from Jason’s reaction he could tell it was really very bad.  
Jason made a step closer to them, the kneeling man and the crying girl. The fierce feeling of protectiveness surprised him a little. 

“Hey, angel. I promise you Dick and I are going to protect you if anything happens, okay ?” 

He had knelt too, hoping it would make him appear less frightening. Baby Wing looked at him with her shining eyes and nodded.

“Sweetheart, can you tell me who did the bad things to you ?” Dick asked softly. 

She hesitated a bit, balancing on her feet.

“It’s the bad witch. But Daddy said the bad witch is gone forever.” 

“I was right.” Jason mumbled but he still seemed a bit out of it. 

“Sorry ?” Dick asked, but Jason wasn't looking at him.

He had turned toward the girl.

“You have two Dads, right ?” Jason said 

For some reason, he felt hopeful about this. Dick looked liked he hadn’t considered the idea before and was making quick calculations. Moron. 

“I have Daddy and Papa.” the kid confirmed, looking straight at Jason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this one !


	4. Group Hug

Brucia had told them she was hungry and Jason had volunteered to make sandwiches, knowing Dick would not let him unmonitored in the Cave, and that it was best for one of us to stay there with the kid, just in case whatever Jason wanted to protect her from managed to follow them. 

Jason himself didn’t care that much for sandwiches but kids usually liked them and they were a quick, easy option. 

That was probably the right way to go since the kid was eating them up joyfully. Jason hoped she would leave breadcrumbs on the floor, that would piss Bruce off. However he made a note to clean after her, since he didn’t want to put more on Alfred’s plate.

Speaking of Alfred, it was really a bad day for him being away. Surely on an errand for Bruce or Batman somewhere. A shame, really. The only emotionally stable guy in the family - no, scratch that, they weren’t really a family, more a bunch of misfits and Jason wasn’t really a part of it anymore anyway - wasn’t available the day a kid was entrusted to them. 

Dick had changed into his Nightwing suit, sans mask, just in case the threat the other dimension Jason feared made an appearance. Jason would have put his Red Hood outfit on if he had it there, but he wasn’t going to borrow anything from B. 

The knives he kept on him even in civilian clothes would have to do if anything happened, and of course he wouldn’t have entered the Cave without some chest protection under his jacket. His gear was not ideal but could do. Hopefully. 

“How did you know the kid was raised by two men ?” Dick asked suspiciously as the kid bit in her second triangular sandwich. 

They were a bit away from her and Dick had kept his voice low. Jason wondered how long he had been pondering.  
They were side by side, looking at the kid eating in the too high chair, with the sparkly sneakers with velcro straps and the disintegrating tattoo of a pony on her left wrist.

It felt a bit like a dream. Well, in a dream, Jason doubted the kid would have scars on her back.

Jason felt Dick’s eyes on him. Jason hadn’t answered his question about knowing the kid was raised by two men yet. Well, surely Dick could have figured this one out sooner. 

Jason shrugged a bit uncomfortably. It had been mere instinct at first, but he couldn’t say that to Dick. There were some things about him the vigilante didn’t know, and he had always thought it was better to keep it that way. 

“She told us she didn’t have a mother. And in the eventuality that the other Jason is raising her, well, it made sense.” he eventually said. 

He was aiming for nonchalant but was probably coming off as tense. Well, Dick would put any sign of uncomfort on him being back in the Cave and the unsettling presence of the kid - and wouldn’t be totally wrong -.

“Made sense how ?” Dick asked him, because he could never let well enough alone. 

The appropriate answer may have been “because I am gay, you idiot”, but that wasn’t the one Jason used. 

“Did B skip the investigation part of the gig when he trained you ?” he said instead. 

Dick frowned. Maybe it was because the girl was looking at them now.

“Jason.” he said, in a reprimanding tone that made Jason’s blood boil.

He looked at the girl and smiled at her instead of snapping at Dick. The kid smiled back. One of her incisives was amiss, it was sweet. Soon enough, her attention was back on her sandwich. 

“We know that the other me is looking for the kid’s father but he acted as the kid’s father too. The simplest explanation is that the kid has two Dads, especially since she told you she has no Mom.” Jason told Dick. 

Dick was looking at him in a strange way. No, not at him. Well, not only at him. He was looking at Jason and the kid interacting, actually.

“I just supposed that one was raising her and the other was her biological father. That could have worked.” Dick said. 

“You can see how casual Jason is with her. He wouldn’t be if the only thing they shared was DNA. I am not saying he raised her for sure, I mean I can’t get around how I would let you name our kid after Bruce for now but -”

Dick stopped him by putting a hand on his arm. Even with all the fabric between them, Jason winced visibly. He hadn’t been ready for the contact. 

The pit had made any contact… difficult. That was one of the reasons he favored firearms over knives and hand-to-hand fights nowadays. Dick let go of him immediately but spoke his mind. 

“Wait, our kid ? What do I have to do with this ?” he said.

Jason crossed his arms on his chest and glanced at the kid now playing with the crumbs on the work table, making unidentifiable forms with them.

“Who else would name her that way ? And have you just looked at her, Dickie ?” 

From side-on, she looked even more like Dick.

“You really think she’s my biological daughter ?”

“If she’s not your clone. We’re getting these results soon anyway, right ?” 

Dick nodded. He was looking at Brucia. 

“What do you think happened to her ? Her back -” Dick said without finishing his sentence. 

Jason sighed. He didn’t want to think too much about it. The scars had brought back memories. 

“I’d bet she has them all over her back. And they didn’t seem that old.” 

“Do you think -” Dick said, looking at his covered hands in horror.

“Let’s admit that Jason is her father. You think he would have brought her to you if your counterpart was evil ? From what I’ve seen, he loves the girl and he trusts his dimension’s Dick with her life.” Jason said.

How Dick had come to the conclusion he was the one to have done that to Brucia was beyond him. Maybe it had been a complicated week and he had been a bit too rough with one criminal or two.

Jason thought it would be the end of the conversation but that wasn’t Dick’s opinion apparently. 

“If I am her biological father and you’re like a second father to her, do you think we’re raising her together ?” 

“It depends.” Jason said. 

“On what ?”

If Jason had been braver, he would have said “your sexual orientation”. Instead he shrugged, letting Dick connect the dots on his own. 

“She said she didn’t have a mother. Only two fathers. And the other Jason mentioned her sister. Do you think it’s possible her mother died and you’re helping me with my daughters ?” 

Apparently all explanations made sense for Dick, except the gay one. Jason tried not to bang his head against the wall. Was it possible to be that straight ? 

“You think your wife died or something and I just jumped in to raise your kids with you ?”

Well, it would explain the kid’s name. Maybe Dick was right, they were platonic co-parents or something. He wasn’t sure why he would agree to that, but you never knew, because that Dick ? There was no way he had ever thought of a guy in a non-heterosexual way, so if the other Dick was like him… 

It made Jason feel strangely vulnerable. He had always known his attraction to Dick would be detrimental to him at some point. 

“Well, she said she didn’t have a mother, and I guess I would have told her about my wife if she had died, but I don’t know, maybe my wife was evil and -”

“You think she’s the witch Baby Wing was talking about ?”

Dick’s mind was quite extraordinary sometimes. Why was he so persuaded the kid was hurt because of him - well, other him -, because of the choices he/that guy made ? 

“How did she get those marks, Jay ? Is there even a witch ? Did that happen to her because of me being a vigilante ? Did-”

“Dick.” Jason said in a warning tone, pointing at something with his chin. 

Brucia had left the remains of her sandwiches and climbed down her chair to come nearer to them. Dick petted her hair when she came a bit nearer to him. She leaned on his touch. 

Jason envied her a bit. She looked so comfortable here. 

“You want to have a look ?” Dick asked when he noticed the kid looking at a piece of metal sticking out of his pocket.

She nodded and he offered her the batarang. Jason narrowed his eyes at it and rummaged into his own pocket, finding comfort when his fingers met cold metal.

Dick having a batarang on him too was just a coincidence. 

“It looks like Papa’s.” Brucia said, happy as she played with the batarang. “Daddy has one too but it doesn’t look like this.”

“Your Papa gave it to me for you.” he said, throwing a glance at Jason.

He meant the older Jason, then. Baby Wing hummed happily. As she turned it in her hands carefully - it wasn’t the first time she was holding it apparently -, Jason noticed something written on it. 

At this point it was just asking for confirmation, but Dick went to grab something on a shelf. 

“Like this ?” he said, showing her a Wing Ding. 

He stayed very still. From the corner of his eye, he saw that Jason had stilled too. 

“Oh no.” 

For half a second, Dick felt better. Or worse, he wasn’t exactly sure. It was a strange feeling. He met Jason’s gaze. The other man was frowning. 

“Daddy’s is blue.” the little girl told them with a smile. 

Dick and Jason shared another look. Dick had never thought of making them blue, but it seemed to be only a minor design change. 

“Brucia, sweetie, does your Daddy look like me ?” Dick finally said. 

“No. He’s very old, like Papa.” the kid answered quietly, looking at her feet. 

Jason couldn’t have been more than 45, at most. Probably less. Kids were really cruel. 

“I miss my Papa and my Daddy and my Mary.” Brucia said, and her voice was trembling a bit. 

“Come here, lovely. Jason, you too. Group hug.” Dick said. “If it’s okay with you ?” he added suddenly, like he was remembering his current hatred for touch.

“I hate you.” Jason said but after some hesitation, he complied. 

He wasn't certain why. It wasn't something he was going to enjoy. Maybe it was the kid's hopeful look, her eyes so similar to Dick's but looking so much more vulnerable. 

Dick was careful not to hug him too tight or too long and it didn’t feel as disagreeable as Jason feared it would. He hadn’t been surprised by it, and there were enough layers of clothes between them to make it more or less okay. 

However, Brucia had no idea Jason was struggling with touch and hugged like a kid : with all her heart and all her body. Jason did not move and let Dick free him from her grip as naturally as possible and hold her in his own arms. 

“You said you have a Papa and a Daddy and a Mary. You haven’t told us about Mary yet.” he said.

“Her sister.”

Dick glared at Jason. He had realized that. It was his mother’s name after all, and Jason knew it. Dick had been trying to make Brucia talk to distract her. 

“Thank you for the information, Jay. Very useful. You could have -”

Dick stopped when he felt a small hand tugging at his suit. Jason and him kept forgetting about the kid and arguing in her presence, which she found distressing and that was not good.

“Dick ? I am scared.” the little voice raised in the Cave. 

Dick looked at the kid in his arms and pushed the hair away from her face. Maybe she had a headband or hair clips usually. He should ask Cass or Steph if they kept hair pins here. 

“Why are you scared ?” he asked. 

Hopefully not because they had been raising their voices, like she had been earlier when she had hidden under a desk. 

The little girl pointed at moving shadows in the back of the Cave and hid her face into Dick’s shoulder. Before Jason and Dick had time to react, the shadows stepped forward and soon enough Bruce was there, in the Batsuit.


	5. Grandpa Bruce

Dick and Jason had been too busy arguing to notice Bruce’s presence, but the kid’s observational skills were on point. Well, it made sense if their counterparts had raised her. 

However, it made Jason flinch a bit. He wouldn’t have wanted this life for a kid. Well, he had seen the scars. And she was here for her protection according to that different Jason. She didn’t have an ordinary life, and it was really more upsetting than it should have been. 

Jason noticed that Bruce’s gaze, that had been lingering on the girl, was now on another intruder - him. 

“Am I going to be kicked out hmpfr -” Jason started saying defiantly before Dick covered his mouth.

Jason was too indigned to react, and the fact that Dick had touched him hadn’t even registered with him until Dick drew back his gloved hand. He noticed Dick taking a step forward, hiding Jason from Bruce’s field of vision partly. 

He almost groaned at the protective gesture. Dick couldn’t help but play the knight in shining armor whenever he could. However, Jason wasn’t going to let him. He wasn’t scared of Bruce - not much, anyway - and he’d rather put himself between the kid he was looking after and the man that had been his mentor once. 

Dick glared at him but said nothing as Jason sided by him. Brucia must have sensed the sudden tension because she was still hiding her face against Dick. It was probably not that comfortable since he was wearing his Nightwing suit. 

“There’s nothing to be scared of, Brucia. B, can you please put off the cowl at least ? I am sure we are all going to be good friends.” Dick added, cheerfully but his face was all seriousness. 

A warning for both Jason and Bruce, probably. It sounded very fake, but it convinced Brucia to look over her shoulder. Before hiding her face against Dick again. 

If Bruce was surprised by the kid's name, he didn't show it. 

Jason had snorted at the “we’re all going to be friends” part - not likely - and crossed his arms on his chest but hadn’t interrupted Dick. The things you did for your kid. Well, another you's kid. 

Bruce had stayed silent, examining the kid half-hidden in Dick’s arms. 

He had put off his cowl and Jason wondered why the kid didn’t seem to recognize him. Of course, he must have looked older in her world, and the kid hadn’t even seemed to connect her parents to Jason and Dick so maybe it was that. However, he had the feeling the explanation wasn’t that simple.

“Brucia, this is Bruce.” Dick tried again.

It was enough to pique her interest and she looked back at Bruce. Her whole face lightened and she started kicking the air with renewed energy. Dick put her down. Jason made a face and took a step forward as the kid got closer to Bruce. She looked up at him and smiled. 

“Like Grandpa ! But Grandpa Bruce went with the angels with my other Grandpas and Grandmas and I have never met him. Alfie tells stories about him sometimes but it makes Daddy sad.”

There was an uncomfortable silence. Even Jason tensed, looking at Dick with more intensity than necessary. Dick ignored him. Bruce was alive and well. It was another Bruce. It wasn't the same. It really wasn’t. 

Bruce knelt very slowly. The kid was still smiling, unaware of the impact of her words.

“Nice to meet you, young lady. Your grandfather - would have loved to meet you.” 

Grandpa Bruce was dead, but Bruce Wayne, people's charmer, was back, it would seem. 

Brucia extended her hand, her cheeks rosy with excitement, giggling. Bruce shook hands with her solemnly. 

“I like him.” Brucia whispered, turning to Dick. 

Jason rolled his eyes. Of fucking course, his almost kid was falling for Bruce’s charisma. 

“That’s great, sweetheart.” Dick said, smiling at her.

The girl started yawning and rubbing her eyes. Dick picked her up again. 

“She’s tired.” Bruce said unhelpfully.

“Maybe we should put her in a room upstairs.” Dick suggested. 

“No. Better security here.” Jason said, crossing his arms.

He hadn’t planned to stay but he couldn’t leave the kid, and you couldn’t know what could happen on the way to a safehouse. 

So, the Cave it would be, it would seem. Oh joy. 

“Are you going to stay the night ?” Dick asked. 

Jason was grateful for the explicite invitation, a - not so, according to Bruce’s furrowed brow - discreet sign of support. 

Jason nodded and Bruce didn’t say anything. Later, they arranged some cots and blankets in the part of the Cave closest to the manor. 

Only three, Jason noted. Bruce was at the far end of the Cave, monitoring some screens and apparently not paying attention to them, even if his apparent disinterest wasn’t fooling Jason any. For all they knew, Bruce was watching them through his screens. 

“We’re not expecting anyone else tonight ?” Jason asked after some time as he was helping Brucia out of her clothes and into one of Dick’s old T-shirts. 

Dick was preparing her bed. 

“Damian is with the Titans. Tim is spending some days in Metropolis.” Dick said, throwing a hairbrush at Jason. 

Brushing the child’s hair was strange. Jason had never taken care of a kid that way. Had never thought he would. The domesticity of it was nearly too much. It was something you did when you had a family, and Jason and families… that just wasn’t a thing. 

“You’re good to go, Baby Wing.”

The nickname had grown on him. Better than her actual name. 

“Thank you, Jason. Dick, can I sleep in your bed tonight ?” she asked with hopeful eyes. 

Good luck to resist her, Jason thought. He doubted Dick would even try. 

“I take the first shift.” Jason said.

Bruce was awake, but Dick had promised to keep the kid safe. Extra security wouldn’t hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter but hopefully the next one will be there soon.
> 
> Oh and Brucia is not named that way just because Bruce's dead in her world. More information about that when Other Dick will make an apparition.


	6. A bit alien ?

Jason didn’t want to fall asleep - he was quite sure Dick hadn’t, during Jason’s shift - but he did. He had been about to get some sleep when Dick had asked him to come to the Cave. 

He had had a busy night tracking mercenaries. Upon waking up, he almost strangled Dick.

It seemed Dick had taken it upon himself to wake him from a nightmare, which seemed odd. Dick knew he wouldn’t react well to that. 

Hence why he had been straddling Jason when he woke him up. However he hadn’t expected Jason going full force against him and flipping them over, his arm pressing on Dick’s throat for a few seconds before even realizing what he was doing.

Jason took his arm back nimbly when he felt Dick’s nails digging into his skin. Dick coughed and tried to straighten up, but Jason was still on top of him, preventing him from moving. 

Jason stood up and Dick started massaging his throat. It was rather dark - there was some light at the back of the Cave, where Bruce was probably still up. Jason could swear that despite the very dim lighting, he could see Dick glaring at him. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean -”

“To try to kill me as our somewhat daughter slept beside us ? Yeah, I suppose so.” Dick whispered furiously, his voice a bit rougher than usual. 

“I am sorry, okay ? I should have realized I wouldn’t sleep well here but you knew better than to wake me up in the middle of a bad dream.” Jason said, sitting on his cot next to Dick.

Dick made an abortive move towards him but stopped his hand a centimeter away from Jason’s shoulder, waiting for Jason’s consent to be touched. Jason hated himself for distancing himself from Dick physically a bit more. Just a few more centimeters away, but it was enough to make Dick hunch noticeably. 

“You would have woken her up. Jay, are you okay ?” Dick said, and his voice was even a tad lower, maybe low enough not to be caught on recording. 

Jason looked at the ceiling. Well, the absence of it. It was cold. He checked on Brucia and pulled her blanket to her chin before sitting back on one end of the coat he had slept in. He had to be relatively close to Dick not to wake the kid. 

“What do you think ?” he said finally, and he was glad for the feeble lighting. Dick couldn’t see his haunted look. 

The Cave was so Batman-like, it was bound to make him react.

“You can talk to me.” Dick said softly.

It was too soft for Jason’s taste. If the situation brought forward some paternal instincts in Dick, alright, but he could keep them for the kid. Jason was done with paternal figures. 

“Us having a kid in another universe doesn’t make me your best friend, you realize that ?” he said not too nicely.

And probably a bit too loudly, because blankets and sheets shuffled next to them.

“Are you two arguing ?” a small voice asked as a bunch of blankets sat herself between them, pushing Dick just a bit. 

“No, sweetheart, not really.” he said, stroking her hair. 

“You don’t like Jason.” the kid said, and she sounded heartbroken.

Jason winced. 

“Of course I like Jason. I like Jason a lot.” Dick said, and he sounded oddly sincere. 

“Like that ?” the little girl asked, putting one of her hands two feet and a half away from the other. 

Dick had been kissing her forehead and he laughed softly into her hair. Jason felt his treacherous heart skip a beat. 

"Why aren't you sleeping, sweetheart ?" he asked Brucia. 

"I want a story."

Jason stayed silent, pondering if it was wise to get out of the Cave for a bit. 

"Ah. I'll think of something, just give me a second." Dick said.

Telling stories to kids wasn’t something you learn under Bruce’s roof. 

"No, silly ! It's Alfie's night." Brucia laughed in her armor of blankets. 

"Look, baby B, tonight is a special night so I am going to tell the story, okay ?"

Where was Jason when he needed him ? He didn't have inspiration for a kid story and it looked like Jason had disappeared on them. 

Minutes later, as Dick was starting to walk circles with the adventures of the badass princess living in the circus and the thief prince she met there and Brucia's face grew more and more skeptical, he caught sight of Jason, who must have come back and had a large book on his knees.

Jason seemed to take pity of him - or of the young one - , turned on some lights and called the kid. 

"Do you know this book ?" he asked, showing her the red cover with golden letters forming the title. 

Brucia nodded enthusiastically. 

"It's Mary's. It was Papa’s and there is a missing page but it’s not one with a drawing and Papa knows it by heart and Mary too.” 

“Well, it turns out I also know it by heart. Do you want to give it a try ?”

The kid went to sit on Jason’s lap. Dick was watching him carefully but he showed no uncomfort. He was getting used to the girl and her need for close contact. 

Just after she fell back to sleep, Bruce came to see Jason and Dick. 

“You should have a look at the DNA tests. The both of you.” 

They followed him to the central computer. 

“This isn’t possible.” Jason pointed out, looking at the screen. 

“I ran the tests twice with the hair samples from the hair brush and obtained the same result.”

Dick stayed stubbornly silent, glancing at the screens carefully. Jason didn’t have his patience. 

“So, she’s part mine, part Dick’s and part what ? Because how do you explain this, exactly ? I kind of fail to see how she can be in existence.” 

“Our kid -” Dick started.

Jason looked at him with annoyance. 

“The kid of another universe’s Dick and Jason, you mean.” 

Dick had to remember that, that Brucia wasn’t his daughter, not really. 

They weren’t even pretending to pay attention to Bruce anymore. 

“What I meant was that from what I can see here, there is a part of her DNA that can’t be decrypted. Not with our actual technology.”

Jason nodded. 

“I can see why her father thought running the DNA tests would be funny.” he sighed. 

“Do you think she’s… maybe she could be… I don’t know. A bit alien ?” Dick mumbled, looking back at the screens. “Or some kind of experiment ?”

“I don’t know, Dick. I’ve never seen it before. All I can say is that she has some of your DNA and some of mine. And that I don’t want her to leave but I really hope her family is going to get her back.”


	7. Family

By the end of the following week, Dick had had to google how to braid hair, Jason had made crepes three times and they had built pillow forts in most of the rooms in the manor. 

Once, Jason had found Dick asleep on the sofa with their charge, hugging the book he must have been reading to her. He had taken a photo with his phone. 

Shopping for the kid hadn’t been a walk in the park. They had not wanted to take her out if not absolutely necessary. Keeping her at the Cave - and then at the manor, when it had been blatantly obvious that she would spend more than one night with them - protected her. 

So Jason had gone shopping, and had struggled to find out what was the kid’s foot size, if the green shirt with the ballerina and long sleeves was prettier and more practical than the purple one with a dragon and short sleeves, and if Baby Wing would rather have jeans or a skirt. 

And was it warm enough for the kid to wear a dress without tights ? Did she need other shoes ? What kind of shoes had she been wearing again ? Boots ? Sneakers ? Did she even have a coat ? 

Was Jason especially bad at this or was Dick the same ? Having seen the gratitude on Dick’s face when Jason had announced he would do the shopping for Brucia, he doubted Dick would have been any better at it. 

Jason wouldn’t have offered if he hadn’t needed to get away from the manor. As different as the atmosphere was with a little kid running around, it still was the Manor. 

Jason had too many memories here - staying for more than a few hours made him want to run away from the oppressive feeling that build in his chest whenever he was confronted to anything Batman or Bruce - who had uncharacteristically stayed mostly out of the way, spending more time in the Cave trying to figure out where the kid and her family were from than with the girl. 

A blessing, really, because Dick and Jason didn’t spend that much time away from her. Of course, after a few days, Dick had made the trip back to Bludhaven to deal with unfinished business and Jason had to go back to being Red Hood for a bit, but there was always one of them with the kid.

It was a tacite rule they had established. They didn’t leave her with just Bruce or Alfred. Alfred coming back had been great, he had helped some with the kid and soothed things a bit between Jason and Bruce. 

“Do you think someone will really come back for her ?” Dick had asked Jason one night, after the kid had fallen asleep.

“I hope so.” Jason had said, crossing his arms on his chest. 

The kid missed her family. She asked about her parents and her sister regularly. 

She and Jason had relocated into Dick’s room, sleeping on mattresses. 

“You know, your bedroom -” Dick had told him, at first.   
“It’s fine here. I can keep an eye on her.” Jason had said firmly.

He wasn’t coming back in there ever. Well, he had in order to fetch his Little Red Riding Hood book last time but he wasn’t planning to sleep in there ever again.

Everything had been left as it was, but there was no dust, no stuffy odor like he had half-expected. You could think a teenager was going to push the door open and throw his schoolbag in a corner at any time. 

Jason had felt quite taken aback by it, even if he had expected to find his old book there. It was on one of the shelves, next to a birthday card with a torn angle and smudged writing from Jason’s childhood that he had kept in the book.

Next to it was a robin’s feather. Dick had found it in the garden years ago and had given it to him then, as a joke. Jason had always loved it, but now just looking at him made him feel uneasy. 

He had snatched the book and hurried out of the room, slamming the door behind him. 

He didn’t want to sleep here, so when Dick had mentioned sleeping arrangements the third night - they had slept in the living-room the second one - , Jason had not let him suggest his old room. 

Dick had shrugged.

Jason kept having nightmares but managed to wake up without screaming. He woke up in a sweat, Dick standing guard dutifully while keeping an eye on him. 

Thankfully, his restless sleeping didn’t wake Brucia on most nights. When it did, Dick distracted her the time Jason needed to recover his composure. 

They kept taking shifts staying awake, but there had been no threat for now. 

Dick and Jason let the kid do somersaults and chase birds in the garden. They had found out that she could climb trees too well for a child her age and noticed that her acrobatic skills had been kept up - there was no way she could complete those stunts just because of her genetics.

You didn’t do backflips when you weren’t even six without some quality training first. Same went for climbing trees like she did.

“I think I am going to have a few words with her parents.”

“Maybe it’s not what you think.” Dick protested. 

It was easy to judge someone else's parenting methods without even having met them. 

“I can recognize a Robin in training when I see one.” Jason said through his teeth. 

He was so angry. The kid was so young, for fucks' sake. 

“Jason.” Dick said in a calming tone. 

It made Jason lash out. 

“No ! How can you be okay with that ? She’s a little kid ! She can’t spell her name yet but she’s already training to become a vigilante’s sidekick ? What the hell, Dick !” he screamed. 

Thankfully, Dick's room, where Brucia was sleeping was far away. 

"You can't honestly blame me for this ?" Dick replied dryly. 

"Do you think I am the one who taught her gymnastics ?" Jason said a bit more calmly but with some snark in his voice. 

Dick crossed his arms on his chest. It hadn't been his decisions, Jason was being unfair.

"Another Dick may have but I haven't. The girl isn't ours, remember ? Maybe her universe is extra scary and her fathers had taught her some stuff we wouldn't have. Maybe she just wanted to learn some cool stuff and my… counterpart taught her as a father-daughter bonding thing."

Dick wasn't even certain he believed what he was saying. He would never have forced a kid into heavy training but he didn't know the kid's Dad. 

"Really ? It's the best explanation you can come up with ?" Jason retorted. 

Dick opened his mouth to answer him but closed it when someone else talked. Jason and him had been facing each other but they turned toward the sound at the same moment, in fighting positions. 

"Sorry to interrupt but I am looking for my husband and our youngest. Are they here ?" 

It was Dick's voice but it came from an older man with streaks of grey in his hair. One with a young teenager reluctant to let go of his arm.

Jason and the younger Dick straightened up. Almost without realizing it, they had come a bit closer to each other. 

"You can open your eyes, Mary." the older Dick was saying, stroking her hair the way the younger Dick had with Brucia. 

The young girl did but she stayed close to the man. 

"Dad, these men just look like you and Papa. But less old." she whispered, tugging at his arm.

"Um, we'll talk about this, honey." Dick said before turning back to the other men. "So, according to the coordinates I got, the rest of my family is there. Is that right ?"

The Dick and Jason in their twenties shared a look. 

"A tracking device ?" Jason mouthed. 

"Yeah, about that -" young Dick said, not meeting Jason's eyes. 

Jason's eyes widened. Dick had known about it all this time ? 

"Guys, could you argue later ? I just want you to let us check on our family."

"Sure. Well, your kid is taking a nap but she should be up soon."

"What about Jay ? Did something happen ?" 

"He left to go look after you."

"But the coordinates…" 

Dick offered him the batarang the Older Jason had given to him for his daughter. He could see that his older counterpart was troubled but tried to hide his emotions from his daughter. 

He stayed silent, his eyes on the batarang his fingers were polishing for a few seconds.

"Sorry. Jaybird never goes out without it. When did he leave ?" 

"Hum, nearly a week ago ?" Jason said tentatively.

Older Dick nodded briskly, a hand on his daughter's shoulder. 

Dick invited them to the kitchen, to have some food and drinks as they waited for Brucia to wake up. 

His older counterpart told them he needed to go to the bathroom but would join them afterwards. 

He walked away from them but soon enough was joined by the young Jason in the corridor.

"What do you think you're doing ?" Jason said, positioning himself in front of the window he had planned to use as an exit.

"My husband's in trouble. I am going to get him back." Dick said, stepping forward.

"Don't you dare to abandon your daughters."

"From what I've seen, they're into capable hands." Dick said softly.

Jason's eyes brightened with rage.

"What if your husband is already dead ? What if the only thing you can find out there is death ? You really want to make your children orphans twice ? Stay." he growled. 

Dick tried to push him away from his path. Jason put his hands on the man's shoulders.

"I - " 

"Dick is amazing with the little one but your daughters need their real fathers. Better one than none."

Jason was squeezing the man's shoulders. The pressure might be painful but the other man didn't even wince. 

"I agree to stay until we have some idea of where Jay is. After that… you can't understand." Older Dick sighed.

"I understand plenty being an orphan." Jason snapped, taking his hands off him.

Older Dick shook his head. 

"Not what I meant. Jason, I love him." 

Jason rolled his eyes at him. Words didn't mean anything. Actions did.

"I am going to be generous and think you must be really tired instead of totally clueless. How do you not get it ? You love him ? Protect what he loves the most. His family. You." Jason said, and he was not looking at the older Dick but at the kitchen's door. 

"Thank you." the man said softly and he went to the kitchen, Jason's gaze burning holes into his back.


	8. DADDDDDY !

“DADDDDDY !” the kid standing in the kitchen's doorway squealed happily when she spotted a familiar figure. 

She threw herself into the older Dick's arms. 

“How are you, beautiful ?” the man asked, scanning his youngest daughter quickly. 

The other girl went closer to her father too. 

“I am good. Hi, Mary ! I missed you. Daddy, has Papa found you ?”

“You can come here too, Little Bird. Two arms, you remember ? One for each of you." he said, extending an arm to his oldest. 

The two girls cuddled up with him. 

"Thank you for having taken care of Baby Wing. Those two are everything for Jaybird and I.” their father said later as the three of them looked over the girls who were playing red light, green light in the garden.

The younger Dick shrugged. 

"Brucia told us -" he started saying but his counterpart interrupted him sharply. 

"Brucia ?" he said, too many emotions filling his voice at once. 

"Isn't it your daughter's name ?" Jason asked suspiciously. 

"If she said it is, it is. Jay is going to love this." the older Dick laughed, but he sounded worried. 

Worried and maybe a bit sad. 

"I am not certain what you meant." Jason said, crossing his arms on his chest. 

The girls were now making a hopscotch with the contents of Alfred's rock garden. 

"You've run a DNA test for her ?" the elder man asked hesitantly.

"Three." the other Dick nodded. "Jason hadn't volunteered information on her parentage."

"You wouldn't have believed him. So I suppose you may have noticed some... oddities." 

"Her DNA is different from all known species on Earth. B was going to ask Clark to enter it in his database."

"Not going to work. B is here ?" the older Dick asked and his eyes had gone bright.

"He will be soon. What do you mean, it won't work ?" the other Dick asked. 

"Baby Wing isn't alien. And she isn't really a clone. She's magical." the kid's father told them. 

He lowered his eyes. The next part wouldn't be pleasant to share. 

"Born from magic. A few years ago, a witch somehow found out about Nightwing and Red Hood being old Robins. Once, when Mary was younger, as we were both working a case, the witch kidnapped and drugged us. We chased after her but stopped after a while. She had just drugged us, oddly cut whole strands of hair from our head and abandoned us in a storage unit, we thought. She hadn't striked us as that powerful. How wrong we were."

The older Dick paused. 

"Maybe three years later, my husband found a corpse while working a case. A child's corpse. A child that looked like me and him. We ran tests. Got the same results as you." he said and his voice was shaking a bit.

"Jay still has nightmares about this. We investigated together. We found the witch. It turned out she wasn't just some hair fetishist or whatever. She had in mind to create the Ultimate Robin and used our DNA for that. And some very rare and very potent spell of hers. She had made several attempts when we found out."

The man closed his eyes and bit his lip hard before letting the words flow.

"Project A failed before having a humanoid form. Project B, the kid Jason found, was never animated with life. Baby Wing was her last hope, she was running short of DNA. She was Project C. She was almost four when we found her. Had been called Project all her life. She could climb trees and move quicker than anyone her age but didn't know anything of the external world."

"Jason and I hadn't really discussed having a second child, but the moment we found out about her, we decided she was family." Dick told the younger men. "Jason had come up with the Little Bird's nickname when we got Mary, so I thought Baby Wing could be fitting for our second child." he explained.

"And you have not named her properly ?" Jason asked. 

"We had thought about it. Suggested some names but she said she liked Baby Wing so we've been sticking with it and we have told her she could pick a name and try it when she was ready."

"And she just picked Brucia out of the blue ?" Jason asked, frowning.

"Alfred and her sister's doing, I suppose. Alfred always tells them stories about B and Mary likes repeating them. She's twelve. I wouldn't be too surprised if she told Baby Wing that Bruce wasn't pretty enough for a girl name and suggested something like Bryceline or Brucilla."

"Don't you think Jason - your husband - will mind ?" Dick asked.

"Have you met him ? He'll do anything for his family. I am not saying he will not have a hard time dealing with it if Baby Wing's pick is her final one, but if it makes her happy ? He won't say a word about it to her. I wish he was here with us." 

“But Jason didn’t find you.” the younger Dick said quietly.

“He should have by now, especially if our baby girl was not slowing him down. I know that." his older counterpart said.

Suddenly, he looked very tired. It only lasted a second. The next one he was waving back at his kids with enthusiasm. 

“How could he have found you so quickly ?” Jason protested. 

The older Dick rummaged through his suit and held out a small and sharp object.

“This Wing Ding. It’s a tracking device. It even works through dimensions."

“Like the Batarang.” the younger Dick hummed. 

Jason glared at him murderously. He hadn't forgotten about this. Dick had let strangers track them. 

“Care to explain ?”

“Little Wing and I always have them on us. Modified them after a promise we made to each other a long time ago.” 

“Am I right to assume the “yes” on the Batarang is an answer to a marriage proposal ?” Jason said quietly. 

The younger Dick looked quite surprised. He hadn't realized Jason had seen the Batarang close enough to read the inscription - well, he may have taken it from Dick discreetly.

“Jaybird is a romantic at heart.” Dick said, smiling and showing them the back of a Wing Ding he had kept in his utility belt. 

MARRY ME, could be read on it.

“I am not.” Jason protested, his cheeks on fire.

“I was not talking about that promise, anyway. It was even before that. Before we started dating, even. It was after I faked my death for a mission. Jason and I had a big fight. Bigger than our usual ones, I mean. When we were done shouting, we… spent some more time together and in the morning -"

"You talked all night ?" Dick asked. 

Jason threw his hands in the hair, which owed him curious glances from the girls who were putting back Alfred's rocks into place. 

"Oh my God, you stupid straight idiot. They fucked, obviously."

"Thank you for putting it so eloquently, Jason. Like I said, a true romantic. Anyway, in the morning we promised to wear the tracking devices and to never use them against each other."

"Why would you do that ?" Jason asked. 

He couldn't imagine a world in which he could agree to that. Well, he could hardly imagine a world in which Dick talked about him with so much love and admiration. 

"When Jason died and Bruce followed just after, I was left on my own. When Jason had come back from the dead, each other was all we had. And then he was left on his own when I faked my death. We didn't want to live through that ever again. We saved each other's lives several times thanks to it." 

"What exactly happened to Bruce, in your world ?" the younger Dick asked.

"After Jason's death, he went … feral. I don't think there's a better world for it. He went after the Joker. Betrayed everything he taught us, everything we believed in."

"What happened ?" Jason insisted. 

The other man didn't answer since his daughters had come back. 

"Come play with us, Dad !" the oldest one exiged. 

He offered an apologetic smile to the younger men, who looked at him chasing after his delighted screaming children.

"Dick, where's Bruce ?" Jason asked in a low tone, his eyes on the family playing a few meters away. 

Dick lowered his eyes. Jason must have perceived it somehow because he turned toward him. 

"I don't know. He left before we had new visitors." Dick told Jason. 

Jason shook his head. 

"Let me rephrase this. How many people he knows are hypothetically able to help him to travel through dimensions ?"

"Damn too many." Dick replied darkly.


	9. Conversations

"The sensors reacted, there's someone in the Cave. B must be back." Dick announced. 

The two other men looked up at him. They had been sitting on the floor, playing dominoes with the kids. 

"Or we have intruders." Jason said, already on his feet. 

"Maybe it's Jay." the older Dick said, brushing his hair away from his face. 

The younger Dick hated hearing the hope in his voice. His feelings felt so easy to read on the other man's face. 

"Just in case, I'll keep the girls safe in my room. You two can go and see who it is.” he said. 

Jason threw him a surprised glance. 

“I can -” he started saying but Dick didn’t let him finish. 

“No, I can keep an eye on them. Just be careful, the both of you.” 

“What’s happening ?” Mary wanted to know.

She hadn't been paying attention to what happened around her since it had been her turn.

The younger Dick offered her his hand to help her to get up and picked Brucia up machinally. It was the older Dick’s turn to raise an eyebrow. 

“I am going to show you girls the library. I have some books there that you could look at, and we can build a pillow fort or something. Come on, you two. Jason and your Dad have something to check on but they’ll join us soon.” 

When the younger Dick took her hand, Mary made a face and looked at her father. 

“Papa was supposed to join us soon too.”

The older Dick looked at his daughter, torn between the urge to reassure his daughter and the one to find out if his husband had come back. The younger Dick tugged on the young teen’s hand. 

“Look, sweetheart, I am sure your Papa is doing everything to go back to you, okay ? And your Dad isn’t leaving this place, I promise. Hey, you know what ? I think I have some sweets in my room. Let’s go find out if I am right. We can build a pillow fort there too.”

Mary only looked half convinced but she ended up following him after some more cajoling and a nod from her father. 

The second they were gone, the older Dick and Jason had run to the Cave, only making a detour by the kitchen to warn Alfred. 

The sight that greeted them in the Cave hadn't been one either of them had expected. 

Both the men they found there were wearing damaged armors and one of them was half holding in a fireman carry, half dragging the other with him, leading him to what could pass for a hospital bed. 

Bruce was grunting under the other, unconscious man’s weight added to his armor’s. 

“Give me a hand !” he barked when he realized they had company. 

Jason and the older Dick, that had stopped right in their tracks when they had caught sight of the strange scene, moved forward quickly.

“Oh, Jay !” Dick mumbled as he and Jason helped Bruce to carry Dick’s husband.

They laid him down and Dick started stripping him. 

“Get Alfred.” Bruce asked Jason.

Or more accurately if you took Bruce's intonation into account, it was what Batman said to one of his Robins.

Jason would have protested the order but his counterpart looked in really bad shape and that older Dick seemed rather distressed so he did as he was told. 

The wish to make himself useful had never departed him and it was difficult to not follow Bruce's orders instinctively, anyway. But the man didn't know how great a hold he could still have on Jason. 

When he came back, Alfred at his side, Bruce was gulping down painkillers and Dick was assessing his husband’s injuries. 

“Wake up, Jay. Please.” Dick was whispering, stroking his husband’s cheek as Alfred examined him. “The girls and I need you.”

His pleas resonated in the Cave. Jason felt uncomfortable, feeling like an intruder here. A familiar feeling since he had come back. He didn't really belong here anymore. 

“What happened ?” Dick said, turning his haunted eyes in Bruce’s direction.

He flinched when he met his eyes, no longer covered by lenses. Well, it wasn't that surprising if he hadn’t seen him for what, almost thirty years. 

“I asked for a favor and found Jason in some other dimension. He was already hurt when I found him but still conscious. However we got attacked on our way back here. He was stabbed with a spear in the abdomen. Unknown material. It pushed right through his armor. He sustained other minor injuries and lost a lot of blood as I took him back here after that.” 

“You too are in need of healing, Master Bruce.” Alfred observed, frowning. 

Bruce had changed into a t-shirt and sweats and there were blood tracks on his arms. 

“It’s nothing. You can have a look at it later if you deem it necessary. Let’s focus on Jason for now.” 

An hour later, everything they could do for the man lying unconscious had been done. 

“The only thing we can do for now is waiting.” Alfred concluded. 

Dick nodded. He met the younger Jason’s gaze, studying him. He looked away. 

“I - I need air.” he said quietly and his voice was shaking. “Will you - can someone stay with him, Alfred ? I’ll be back soon. I just need air and it’s past the girls’ bedtime.” Dick said before storming out of the Cave. 

Bruce and his former Robin shared a glance. It was obvious the older Dick couldn’t bear looking at someone who shared such a resemblance to the wounded man nearby. 

“He needs to be comforted.” Jason pointed out, because Bruce could be really ignorant when it came to emotions. 

It earned him a glare. Jason just shrugged as Bruce went out of the Cave. He would have talked to that older Dick himself if he hadn’t been so certain his presence would be more upsetting than comforting.

“Dick ?” Bruce called as he opened one of the French windows of the living-room. 

Dick had his elbows resting on the balcony. He turned around. They only shared a look but the second after Bruce had closed his arms around a shaking, crying Dick. 

“What if he dies ? I can't -” 

Dick didn’t even finish his sentence, burying his face into Bruce’s shirt. Bruce was rubbing circles on his back as if the man was nine again and had woken up from a nightmare. 

That Dick was about Bruce's age but right now, in his vulnerable state, fearing for his Jason's life, he didn't look that much older than Bruce's son. 

“I know. I know, Dick. It's okay. Jason's strong. And he has you to come back to.”

They weren't really talking about the exact same person but Dick didn't seem to mind. 

“Yeah, well, I guess you don’t really approve. Well, the man who took the both of us under his wing wouldn’t have, I think. But it's how it is. Bruce - our Bruce - wanted us to be brothers, but we've never been.”

Bruce didn’t say anything but he didn’t let go of Dick either. 

“Bruce, I am so scared to lose him again.” the man whispered. "It just can't happen now. Not after all the things we went through." 

“We have that in common.” Bruce sighed.

Bringing back the boy - no, the man - here hadn’t been pleasant. Memories of another wounded boy with similar features had gone back to the surface on their way to the manor. 

“He's not your Jason.” the older Dick whispered.

There was a question here. Despite the man's age, Bruce could still see the boy in him, one very similar to another one. 

“No. The Dick I raised and I have our disagreements but if he taught me anything, it's that any version of Jason is worth saving.”

Behind the window that had been left open, the younger Jason rolled his eyes. He had come here to make sure Bruce handled this correctly, but was now certain Bruce had noticed him lurking in the shadows because this comment was clearly for his benefit.

A sort of peace offering, maybe. Not really Bruce's thing, but maybe the guy fighting for his life downstairs had changed things. 

“Sounds like a great guy, that Dick Grayson.” the older Dick said. 

“He is.” Bruce confirmed and Jason knew him well enough to hear the smile in his voice.

Dick leaned on the balcony again, looking at the stars. 

“Sorry for the meltdown. Those last few days had been very trying." he murmured. 

Bruce shrugged. Seconds went by. 

"I am going to check on the girls. I don't even know what I am going to tell them about their father." Dick sighed. 

“Before you do that, can I ask you what happened to the Bruce from your universe ?”

Dick’s lips tightened for a few seconds but he nodded eventually, his arms crossed on his chest. 

"I am not surprised that Jay didn't tell you. Until - until Jason's death, our universes were, at least for us, very similar." 

"Dick, what happened ?" Bruce asked again, tense.

"You - he left us. Bruce avenged Jay's death. He killed the Joker and died in the process.” he said, looking away.


	10. Relationships

Two men were in the room. The first one had been asleep for hours and the second one should have been. 

The man lying in the bed moved. The second one gripped his hand tightly. 

“Hey, Little Wing. Do you hear me ?” he said as the other opened his eyes slowly. 

“Boy Wonder. You're here.” Jason croaked, and he smiled weakly. 

Dick came closer to help his husband to sit up and offered him a cup of water. 

“For you ? Always.” he said as Jason drank slowly.

He had some experience with rough awakenings after some missions. Some worse than others. This one didn't even deserve a 5 on a 1 to 10 pain scale. 

“The girls ?” he asked but he knew they must be safe if Dick was looking after him.

Dick smiled and stroked Jason’s cheek. Jason took his wrist and kissed it. 

“They're here too. They're fine. You want me to -” Dick started saying but Jason shook his head. 

He knew he looked unwell. It would scare the kids.

“After. When I’ll feel a bit better. Just stay.” he asked softly.

Dick nodded and looked briefly at their intertwined fingers.

“Jay, there's something you need to know.” he said, looking back at his husband. 

Jason straightened up immediately. That was Dick's "I have bad news to deliver" face. 

“Are you injured ? The kids ?” Jason asked, ready to get out of the bed despite some dizziness. 

“No, we're alright.” Dick said, pushing him back onto the bed. 

“Is it about this world's Bruce ? He made it back, right ?” Jason asked, worry coloring his voice.

“He did, please calm down, love. It's not bad, not really, I promise. Listen, Baby Wing picked up a name and maybe she'll change her mind next week but there's a possibility that she sticks with it and…”

Jason started laughing.

“Wait, you're that upset because of a name ? What did she pick, Cruella ?”

“Jay…” Dick said in a quivering tone. 

Jason brought him closer to him to hug him properly and dry his tears.

“Dickie… You’re crying.” he said softly, kissing his forehead. "Tell me."

“Brucia. She picked Brucia.”

There was a silence and Jason stopped petting his husband's hair for a few seconds. 

“Like… Ah.” 

Dick buried his face into Jason's neck.

“Oh Dickiebird. Come here. It’s okay. I know it's difficult for you. I know."

“It's difficult for you too. I am not the only one Bruce left behind.” Dick said, wiping his own cheeks.

“You need me right now. I’ll be upset later.” Jason said, keeping his hand on Dick's nape. 

“That’s not how it works.” Dick said, laughing.

“Says who ?” 

“Jay, you’re the one in the hospital bed. I should be the one taking care of you.” Dick told his husband softly.

Jason brushed Dick's hair away from his eyes.

“Nuuh. Apparently the last few days have taken their toll on you and I’ve been sleeping. You should rest too.” 

“We weren’t certain you weren’t going to die.” Dick admitted.

“I am not that easy to kill.” Jason protested before kissing him.

“Lucky me.” Dick sighed against his lips, holding him just a bit tighter.

“You really look exhausted. You should rest too, I think there's enough place for the both of us..” 

The bed creaked a bit under their combined weight but they managed to fit together in the bed. 

The younger Jason and Dick found them a couple of hours later, asleep in each other’s arms. The girls were making cookies in the kitchen under Alfred's supervision - Mary had been just as delighted as her sister when she had found out they had a version of her Alfie here - and had asked for their fathers. 

On their way, Dick and Jason had been talking about the older Jason and Dick's stay and whether the threat that had made them flee their home was gone now or not. Jason shushed Dick when he caught sight of the couple. 

They had fallen asleep in the same bed. They seemed to fit just right in each other’s space. 

The younger Dick and Jason stepped out of the room silently.

“They looked… really close, there.” 

“They’re married, Dick. Them finding comfort in each other’s presence isn’t a surprise.” Jason shrugged.

Dick kept throwing him side glances on their way back to the kitchen. It was unnerving. Jason dragged him into a room and closed the door behind them. 

"What's wrong with you ?" he asked, hands on his hips. 

“Nothing ! I just thought that they looked really comfortable in each other’s arms.” 

Jason pinched the bridge of his nose. What was it with this family and their inability to tell the truth right away ?

“Dick, what are you trying to say ?”

Jason was tired of mind games. 

“They were touching. Dick had his head on Jason’s shoulder and Jason had wrapped an arm around his waist.”

Jason's patience was running seriously thin. Being in the manor didn't help him to have a better grip on his growing frustration at Dick who seemed to want to know something but not to have the balls to ask why. 

“And you’re surprised why ?” he asked, pressing Dick. 

“The touching. It - it’s not really your thing right now, yes ?”

Jason narrowed his eyes at him. 

“I am not him and he is not me. Anyway, I don’t think it will be permanent. It has been getting better. It’s mostly okay if it’s not direct contact. And it’s fine if I initiate it. But that’s not your business, is it ?” Jason said. 

He was smiling but it was not friendly. Dick took a step away from Jason.

“I didn’t mean to pry.”

Jason took a step forward, laughing.

“You did. You’re curious.” he said and his eyes were very cold.

A warning. 

“It’s just that you and I, even in another universe, it’s… I don’t know, not something I am getting used to. And it feels like I am the only one. You don’t seem to mind and Bruce doesn’t seem surprised.”

“They’re not us.” Jason repeated once again. 

He had shoved his hands in his pockets. They had been trembling. 

“I know that, but it doesn’t weird you out, some replica of you and me getting married to each other and raising children together ?” 

Jason snapped. 

“What’s bugging you, the gay thing or the me thing ?” he said, crossing his arms. 

Dick sighed and leaned against the wall. 

“It’s not - look, I am not into guys, okay ? And well maybe it’s not a big deal for you that you’re married to a guy in another universe but finding out that some version of me is gay is disturbing.”

Jason closed his eyes for a second to keep his countenance. 

“It’s a wonder you haven’t figured it out yet but even in this universe, I’ve never been into girls.” he said dryly.

Dick gaped at him for a bit. Jason raised an eyebrow.

“Oh. oh. I am - I didn’t know, I didn’t mean -”

“To be homophobic to a gay man’s face ? How surprising.” Jason stated before going for the door.

“Jay, wait ! I didn’t think you were - I haven’t realised that you may -”

“Fuck you, Dick.” Jason said, slamming the door behind him. 

He only wanted to storm out of this place and go back to one of his safehouses. Or anywhere else devoid of bats. And of Dicks. 

He had just fled from one to stumble on another one in the corridor. 

"Nobody taught you eavesdropping was a bad habit ?" he said to the older man. 

He didn't even mind that much. He wasn't angry at that Dick from another universe. 

"Respect of privacy is a thing taught in the Bat school in your world ?" the older Dick said, raising an eyebrow. 

They shared a smile and went out in the garden. 

"How's your husband ?" Jason asked as they sat next to each other on the stairs. 

"Still sleeping. Jason, I heard you and Dick arguing."

"No kidding. Let it go." Jason said, baring his teeth.

The older Dick shrugged. 

“I am just saying that everything hasn’t been easy between Jay and I when we were younger.” 

“We're not you and I don’t need this.” Jason stated harshly. 

“True. But I need to try on Dick’s behalf.” the older Dick said. 

Jason focused on his face. The laugh lines, the wrinkles and the greying temples. 

“You don’t know him.” 

Dick smiled softly at that younger Jason. 

“But I know me, and we’re not that different. I realized I liked Jay - and guys - about two seconds before our first kiss. I wasn’t ready for the intensity of my feelings. I ran away.”

Jason rolled his eyes. What had he done to deserve this ? 

“Yeah well sorry if I don’t want to deal with Dick’s shit. I have enough on my plate as it is.” 

“I am not asking you to do it. I ask you to consider giving him a second chance when he will ask for one. Maybe it will take time, but he will.” 

Jason made a face.

“Right. He could try for an honest apology first.” 

“I know he does that a lot but I don’t think he ever means to hurt you.” the older Dick insisted. 

Jason lowered his head. 

“Look, him and I… we’re not like you two.”

“I know your body language as well as my own, kid. You love him. And maybe Dick has not realized it yet, but he cares about you a lot. We're not your future, not really, but you almost could be us, in twenty years.” 

Jason snortled. 

“I am an adult. And I don’t think…”

The older Dick didn't let him finish. 

“I used to hate Jason after Bruce’s death. Easier to do for the time he stayed dead. When he came back, I didn’t know how to deal with my feelings. They were very contradictory - I was relieved because I've never wished him to be dead in the first place but I couldn’t forgive Jason for Bruce’s death. A thing he never had a say in.” Dick said. “But B favoring the dead new kid over me, his very much alive son severely in need of some guidance with abandonment issues, had been tough.” 

Jason stayed silent but signaled Dick to go on. He was listening. He just didn't have any desire to comment. 

“When Jay came back and learnt what Bruce did, what he did for his sake… it didn't go well. Jay's bad at dealing with guilt. I don't think he'll ever forgive B for doing that. I haven't forgiven Bruce for leaving me alone, to be honest.”

Jason looked at him darkly.

“Is it some fucked up way to tell me I should be glad that Bruce is alive in my world ?”

The older Dick shook his head. 

“I was trying to tell you that even if things are not always smooth between you two, it doesn’t mean Dick doesn’t care. He does. More than you both think. Sure, I didn’t start to fall in love with Jay until we made up and learnt to know each other better a few years after Bruce’s death and Jay’s return. Falling in love with Jay was painful. It felt like a betrayal towards Bruce’s memory - he had wished we could be brothers.”

“Yeah, didn’t really work out for us either.” Jason said. 

The older Dick smiled at him kindly. Almost fatherly. That was quite disturbing, and in all honesty, Jason was done with father figures. 

“You’ve carried a torch for Dick since you've met him, right ?” the older man asked. 

Jason felt his cheeks reddening against his will. Damn Dick's scrutinizing eyes. 

“How can you know… Of course. He told you. Doesn't he have any dignity ?” Jason growled, burying his face into his hands. 

“Jay only admitted to it in his wedding vows.”

"As much as I'd like to talk about my dysfunctional relationship with Dick and your wedding day with you, I'd like some answers to my questions about your presence here even more." 

"I am listening." the older Dick said.


	11. Some explanations

In the end, the older Dick had accepted to answer questions but only when they would all be present. 

They all had reunited in the living-room when the older Jason had woken up once again. 

Baby Wing was playing on the rug with an elephant plushie that had belonged to the younger Dick. Mary was sitting on the sofa next to Bruce, her head lolling against Bruce’s shoulder occasionally. 

The older Jason, still tired but not in any danger of dying anymore, was sitting on an armchair with cushions between the back of the seat and his own. His husband was half-sitting on the armrest, keeping constant physical contact with him, brushing shoulders, holding Jason’s hand or nudging him with his knee.

The younger Dick and Jason ? Dick was sitting cross-legged on the floor, distracting Baby Wing, and Jason was sitting near Alfred on the second sofa, glaring daggers at him. 

“So, now that we’re all happily reunited, I suppose it’s time to give you some answers.” the older Jason said clearly. 

“Who wants to start ?” his husband asked after some seconds of silence. 

“You’ve known who we were from the start. When Jason - the older one - left your daughter with me, he knew Bruce was ali- hadn’t done some of the things he did in your world. And since you’ve been here, nothing about us seems to surprise you, although there seems to be quite some disparities between our worlds.” the younger Dick stated. 

The older Jason and Dick had a short conversation composed of eye movements and facial expressions. Jason ended up nodding before turning back his attention onto the rest of his audience. 

“Our little trip was, in part, planned. We knew there was a threat and that someday we would have to run away from home very far and very fast. I engineered a device that allows us to have a glance at other worlds with the help of some friends.” Jason said carefully, glancing at Bruce.

It was obvious that even if his attention was split between the conversation and the teenager half-asleep against him, he had started thinking about possibilities to spy on other worlds the second the older Jason had mentioned it. 

“And you picked _this_ world ? What’s wrong with you ?” Jason asked, shaking his head in bewilderment. 

He could feel the younger Dick’s gaze burn through his shirt. One of Dick’s, by the way, because nothing was funnier than asking the guy you’ve just argue with to let you borrow a shirt - it was a pity that Jason hadn’t stocked some in the manor, but he hadn’t thought he would be there for a long and didn’t plan to reitere the experience. 

Dick had been really nice about it, which could only mean that guilt was crushing him, and in Jason’s mind, it was well deserved. 

“It was a calculated pick. I had a selection of ten relatively peaceful worlds in which I could trust another version of Dick and another version of me to look after the kids and help my family and you were both available in this one. And Bruce was too. I wanted - Dick and I wanted the best protection for the girls.” the older Jason said, and neither him or his husband spared a look in Bruce’s direction, but everyone else did. 

Mary hugged Bruce lightly, got up and went to hug her fathers more tightly. Jason winced but tried to shrug it off for his daughter’s sake. It looked half as a hug and half as boa constrictor squeezing the life out of his prey. 

“It’s fine, Baby Bird.” Dick said softly, kissing the top of her head as she let go of them. 

“I am not a baby.” the girl protested, pushing Dick’s away.

“I know, I know, sweetheart.” The older Dick said as she sat on the remaining free armrest of Jason’s armchair. 

“What’s the threat ?” the younger Jason asked.

The older Jason looked at him, assessed him. 

“Was. Da- a friend took care of it in our world and B and I were taking care of the rest when I was stabbed. They’re gone.”

“We’re coming back home soon, then ?” Mary asked, looking at her father. 

“Yes. Our friends are taking care of a few things and then we can thank our friends here for welcoming us and go back home.”

“What were they ? Do you think they could be interested in our world ?”

The older Jason threw a glance at each of his daughters and then at his husband. The older Dick nodded.

“Hey girls, let’s go look for ice cream.”

He didn’t need to say it twice. Soon enough, the two girls and their father were on their way to the freezer. The older Dick had thrown a last questioning - and slightly concerned - look at her husband but the man had only nodded, smiling. 

“I’ll try to make this quick. The Damian Wayne from our world had never met Bruce but tried to take possession of Gotham when he turned eighteen. Mary was a recent addition to our family then and Dick and I were talking about retiring but we had to stop Damian before he burned the city down or something. Look, he wasn’t a bad kid but being raised by Talia, let’s just say he had quite a few morality issues.” Jason sighed. 

“He tried to kill you both.” Bruce said sternly. 

He looked quite concerned. The younger Jason didn’t say a word but he felt lighter when Alfred’s bony hand squeezed his shoulder. 

“Yes. The “only heir claiming his inheritance” thing. He almost managed to off Dick but after a while we came to some kind of understanding. It took us time, some coercion and help from our allies, but Damian started thinking by himself and rebelling against his grandfather. A bit more recklessly than we had hoped, though. It almost got him killed. We took him in to let him recover and we became allies of some sort.” the older Jason said, reminiscing. 

Everyone else was listening carefully. 

“Dick thought it was important to take the kid under his wing. In Bruce’s memory. I thought we didn’t owe Bruce shit. Dick still begs him to not leave him alone in his sleep every once in a while.” Jason murmured, losing his focus for a few seconds.

The younger Jason looked at Dick, who was playing with the abandoned elephant plushie’s ears. He caught Bruce doing the same. They shared an understanding glance. They both could tell that Dick was listening from the way he held himself, leaning forward in the older Jason’s direction even if his gaze was focused on the plushie into his hands. 

“But the kid had nobody else. We helped him step in Batman’s shoes. Other bats protested but Dick stood firm. He had never wanted the role for himself, only adopted it for a year after Bruce’s death and every bat respects Dick’s decisions. You just can’t be a bat if you’re not loyal to Dick Grayson.” he said, shaking his head. 

“What has Damian to do with the threat you were under ? You’ve told us he was working with you. Did he turn rogue again ?” the younger Dick asked. 

He was wondering what excuse the other Dick had found to keep the girls away from the room for so long. 

“No. But when Damian was under the League of Assassins’ influence, he killed a woman. That woman had a child, who grew up and made a pact with some kind of demon to avenge her mother. The demon promised her to send thirty hellish creatures after Damian and whoever protected him and took her soul as payment.” Jason said grimly. 

Everyone had gone very still. The “no killing” rule had started many arguments under this roof. 

“How we got knowledge of this was a long story, but we fled when the first demon had arrived. I was shopping for shoes with Baby Wing - do you know how often little kids change shoe sizes ? - when I got a coded message from Dick telling me he had spotted a demon on the grounds and Mary and him were jumping worlds.” 

Jason paused and took a breath. No one interrupted him. 

“I warned Damian, who probably told the other bats, and took my kid to one of my safehouses. I changed into my suit, adjusted the coordinates on my bracelet - it’s a dimension jumper, courtesy of a friend - and we were attacked. I didn’t sustain any serious injuries so I activated the bracelet and left Baby Wing with you before I went looking for the rest of my family.” 

“You’ve just ran away ?” the younger Jason couldn’t help but say.

He knew it was judging but it just went out of his mouth without a warning.

“Jason !” the younger Dick protested. 

“You would have too if you had a family to protect.” the older Jason said calmly. “You know what happened next, or most of it anyway.”

“Why Dick didn’t come here in the first place ?” the younger Dick asked.

He had been wondering about it since the older Jason had told them about picking this world.

“He didn’t know how to jump into the right world as well as I did. Thankfully Dick had a dimension bracelet too just in case but we weren’t supposed to be separated for this trip. And after that, he had to get rid of the demons that had followed him and Mary here before looking for me and Baby Wing.” 

“How do you know you can come back ?” Bruce asked after a while. “Wouldn’t it be safer for you to stay here ?” 

The older Jason looked a bit surprised by the implicite invitation. 

“The friend who made this bracelet helped Damian to send a message to us via the bracelet. He and the other bats from our world got rid of 16 of them. My husband, you and I have taken care of the rest. We’ve counted. 30 hellish creatures sent, 30 dead. We’re good.” he explained. “We’re grateful for everything you did for us but I am sure the girls are eager to come home to a more familiar setting and Dick and I wouldn’t mind coming back to normal.”

Bruce nodded. 

“It’s Tim, right ? The friend who helped you with the engineering. You’re not naming them and Tim has the skills.” the younger Dick asked. 

He had pushed the plushie away from him and was looking up at the older Jason now. 

“I have them too, actually. I’ve become as good an engineer as any. But yes, Tim is the best of us in this area. How he came to be a bat in our world is a long story, however.” 

There was a knock at the door. The older Dick showed his face by the crack of the door. 

‘Can we come in or do you need more time ?’ he mouthed.

His husband gestured for his family to go in. 

“Papa, papa, we ate all the ice cream !” Brucia said as she ran to the older Jason’s armchair. 

“Really ? Which flavor did you pick ? Let me guess… chocolate mint ?” 

The little girl turned around swiftly. 

“Daddy, how come Papa knows everything ?” she asked, pouting. 

The older Dick laughed and his elder daughter smiled. 

“You have some ice cream on your chin.” Mary told her, touching her own chin to show her the exact place. 

“Oh.” Brucia said and spread it instead of wiping it before the older Dick took the matter in hand and cleaned his kid’s face. 

“What did you pick, sweetheart ?” the older Jason asked Mary in the meantime. 

“Raspberry.” 

“That’s the best one.” the younger Jason said. 

Mary offered him a shy smile and took a step closer to him and Alfred. 

“Daddy just showed us how to make shadow puppets. I want to show Alfie when I’ll go back home. Can I show you ?” 

“I would love to see that, Miss Mary, and I am quite certain that Master Jason would very much like it too.” 

She looked at Jason, who nodded and smiled at her. Laughter erupted into the room and they all looked at its source. 

The younger Dick was tickling Brucia on the rug and the kid giggled and kicked enthusiastically.   
Dick looked up and met Jason’s gaze. His eyes were sparkling and his smile - it made Jason’s heart almost stop. 

Mary was looking too, and she looked envious.

“Hey, Mar. If you want to go help your sister, you’d like to know that Dick is very ticklish on his sides.”

Jason had found out when they had been training in hand-to-hand when they had both been younger. His hand had brushed the skin under Dick’s t-shirt accidentally and Dick had begged him to stop.They had had a good laugh over it.

The teenager laughed, seemed to hesitate for a bit and then joined the tickling battle. 

“Jason, you piece of sh-” Dick said between his teeth as he tried to roll on the carpet to escape the girls. 

“Language !” the older Dick protested but he was smiling as he looked at the scene, holding his husband’s hand in his.

The older Jason tugged at his hand to murmur something in his ear. 

“Love you too.” the younger Jason could read on Dick’s lips. 

“Ahhh ! You can’t use that against me, come on ! That’s not fair.” Dick was saying between two fits of laughter. 

Hearing Dick’s laugh was healing for the soul. 

“Since when do I play fair ?” Jason argued. 

Dick’s only answer was a furious glare and a burst of laughter two seconds later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the last, and it should be ready in like 2 days, so I hope you've been enjoying the ride.


	12. Endings... Or new beginnings

“We’re ready. So I guess goodbyes are in order. Girls, we’re going home, you should say goodbye.” the older Dick said. 

The two sisters were frowning, undecided. Should they be happy to go home or sad to leave ? They weren’t certain. Well, it was why Mary was frowning. Brucia was mimicking her. 

“Group hug ?” the younger Dick suggested in order to make the atmosphere later. 

The girls went to hug him tightly. 

“Jason too.” the littlest one exiged.

The younger Dick looked at the other ex Robin hesitantly.

“Jason ?” 

The man nodded his agreement. 

“Yeah, yeah, sure. Wouldn’t want to miss that.” he said, wrapping his arms around Mary and Dick’s shoulders and trying not to crush Brucia in the process.

He could feel Dick shiver under his touch despite the heating system and didn’t know what to make of his reaction so he focused on the kids. 

“Up !” Brucia asked when she realized she was a lot more little than the rest of them. 

“Brucia, I think you’ve forgotten something.” her Dad said. 

“Up, please.” Brucia said, rolling her eyes. 

The younger Dick laughed and picked her up before kissing her little nose. 

“I am going to miss you, little monster.” he said. 

“I am not a monster.” Brucia said, and she had tensed.

So had her father. Shit. Had Brucia even been called a monster by the witch who had abused her when she was a kid ? 

“Of course not. You’re the sweetest little girl I know.” Dick affirmed, stroking her hair comfortingly. 

“And you’re the coolest teenager I’ve met.” Jason told Mary, nudging her with his elbow. 

The teenager snortled and looked at her feet. 

“Hilarious.” she said. 

“Hey, look at me. I am serious. You’re a good kid, you like raspberry ice cream and I love your boots. You customized them yourself ?” Jason asked.

“Yes. And the jacket too.”

“That’s great ! You made the purple angel wings yourself ? You didn’t tell us you drew.”

The teenager’s face had lightened immediately and she was now showing him the interior pockets she had sewn on her jacket with her Papa’s help. 

Just a few feet away, another conversation was happening. Bruce and the older Jason were chatting side by side, keeping the rest of the group in their eyesights. 

"I am glad we’ve met, and not just because you saved my life and kept an eye on my kids. You're good. You fuck up like only Bruce could do, but you’re still okay, somehow. Doesn't mean everything has been set right with my old man, though." the older Jason was saying.

"Jason. He may have been misguided, but I am sure that Bruce did his best in your universe." 

Jason pointed at the younger Dick and Jason with his chin. They were talking with his husband and their daughters. 

“Well, I can only hope for those two that your best is better than his. I am not sure what he tried to achieve but it wrecked us, you know.”

Bruce nodded his understanding. 

“I am sorry. Meeting you and your family was really nice.” he said.

“I know it’s easier to talk with me than with him, but you do realize I am not the kid you took under your wing, right ? You should talk to him. Oh, I know. You tried. Maybe you should try more. And don’t apologize to me, you’re not him. If you have someone to apologize to, it isn’t me.” the older Jason told him.

“I’ll try to talk with him.” Bruce offered.

Jason smiled at him and looked back at his family. His youngest daughter was back into his husband’s arms and his youngest was whispering something into the younger Jason’s ear that made him laugh. The younger Dick was looking at the younger Jason with a frown, like he was trying to figure something out. 

“You seem to be good parents.” Bruce said.

“We’re doing our best.” Jason replied, smiling.

They stayed silent, staring at their respective families mixing together. 

“You didn’t pick this world just because you knew we would help you.”

The older Jason looked back at Bruce, shrugging. 

“What can I say. It was true for many universes, but it looked like we could help you too. It seemed fair and Dick and I both have a thing for hopeless causes. I believe you know what I mean ?” 

Bruce didn’t have the occasion to answer him. Jason’s husband had called him. 

“Jay, we really should go.” he was saying, his little girl’s face buried against his neck. 

She didn’t like goodbyes, she was probably crying. 

“Right. Let’s, then. Thank you all for taking care of our family. If you ever need help, there’s a notepad with coordinates you may one day understand. Take care.” Jason said with a smile. 

“It was a pleasure.” the younger Dick said, giving his batarang back to him. 

“Thank you.” the man said before seizing his husband and eldest daughter’s hands. “Ready, sweetheart ?”

Mary nodded and said goodbye. 

“Have a nice trip back.” the younger Jason offered. 

“I am certain we will.” the older Dick said, and just like that they disappeared into thin air.

“That was quite an experience.” Jason commented before leaving the room. 

The happy little family had been gone for an hour when Jason tried to sneak out, because goodbyes really weren’t his thing.

“Jay ! Wait, please ! I made a copy. You can have the original.” Dick said just as he opened one of the backdoors. 

Jason waited for Dick to hand him a drawing. It has a yellow house, a sun, clouds and three people who hold hands just besides. A little girl with pigtails and two very tall men around her. Brucia had given it to them before leaving.

“Thank you.” Jason said, rolling it up carefully before putting it in his bag. 

He looked away from Dick and was ready to go but the other man cleared his throat. 

“And um… I am going back to Bludhaven tonight. The old girl has been left to her own devices long enough. But, look, we’ve been getting along well lately. Before our fight, I mean. I liked that. I - I wondered if we could meet next time I am around ? I know a place, an anonymous diner in Gotham’s periphery. Nothing much but we could ah... talk.” Dick said and his face was turning very red. 

“You want to _talk_. ?” Jason asked slowly, not sure he had understood him well. 

Dick sighed and rubbed his forehead, refusing to meet Jason’s gaze. 

“Alright, I knew that was a bad idea.” he said. 

Jason put down his backpack. It made a low thud as it met the wooden floor. 

“Hey. I didn’t say no. We could do that. _Talk_. But figure yourself out first. I don’t do straight guys.”

Jason didn’t want to be anyone’s experiment, especially not Dick’s. He wasn’t sure he could ever do casual with Dick. Damn feelings. Everyone would jump at the chance. 

Dick smiled. It was almost shy and the sight was so pure, it made Jason fall a bit more in love with him, if it was even possible at this point. 

“Noted.” Dick said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“I won’t wait forever.” Jason insisted.

He would wait a lifetime for Dick but hopefully the other man didn’t know that. He couldn’t let Dick give him high hopes if it led to nothing, he was good enough at deceiving himself without Dick’s help. 

“You won’t have to. I promise.” Dick said softly.

Jason reached for him, one hand going around Dick’s upper arm and the other around his neck. They looked at each other for a second, maybe two, and Jason kissed him. Dick leaned into the kiss but his partner put an end to it rather quickly.

“What was that for ?” Dick asked. 

Jason put his backpack on again. He was the one smiling, this time. 

“Me making sure you’re going to remember that promise.” Jason said before opening the door.

“See you, Jay.”

“See you.” Jason answered before closing the door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is the end.   
> I'll edit this today but probably not anytime soon, sorry if it's a bit of a mess.   
> Anyway, I hoped you like this ! Thank you all for reading.


End file.
